In Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) and Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), location areas (LA) are used to define the cells which will be paged to locate a particular mobile station (MS). Location areas are defined by the mobile operator and assigned a Location Area Identity (LAI). The LAI uniquely identifies a LA within the network. The LAI typically comprises a Mobile Country Code (MCC) to identify the country in which the network resides; a Mobile Network Code (MNC) to identify the network; and a Location Area Code (LAC) to identify the LA.
Typically, when a mobile terminated call, message, or page is sent to a MS, it is routed to the MS's last known LA. If the MS does not respond to the first attempt, the call, message, or page is routed to all the LAs associated with the Mobile Switching Center (MSC). The second MSC-wide paging attempt utilizes a significant amount of Base Station Subsystem (BSS) and MSC resources, and associated interfaces. In some instances, a mobile operator may choose to page the last known LA additional times in an effort to reach the MS; however, these attempts are often not successful.
Customized paging systems have been developed in an effort to decrease the paging area and accordingly decrease the use of network resources. In one such system, a mobile operator defines a LA based on the particular roaming habits of a mobile subscriber. The LA employs a predetermined grouping of cells arranged in the order of likelihood that the mobile subscriber will be in that grouping. This system merely stores the cells the subscriber most often frequents to define the LA.
In another paging system, the last known cell that is sufficiently interior to a LA causes the system to page only that LA. In contrast, when the last known cell is sufficiently towards the border of a LA, that LA is paged as well as the bordering LA(s).
These prior art systems, however, do not allow a mobile operator to define customized location areas based upon at least the time, date, and duration in which a subscriber is in communication with a particular cell or group of cells.